History of Luzerne, Lackawanna, and Wyoming counties, Pa.; with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of their prominent men and pioneers, Part 129

Author: Munsell, W.W., & Co., New York
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: New York, W.W. Munsell & co.
Number of Pages: 900

USA > Pennsylvania > Luzerne County > History of Luzerne, Lackawanna, and Wyoming counties, Pa.; with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of their prominent men and pioneers > Part 129
USA > Pennsylvania > Lackawanna County > History of Luzerne, Lackawanna, and Wyoming counties, Pa.; with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of their prominent men and pioneers > Part 129
USA > Pennsylvania > Wyoming County > History of Luzerne, Lackawanna, and Wyoming counties, Pa.; with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of their prominent men and pioneers > Part 129

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

and Western Railroad Company, the Delaware and Hud- son Canal Company and the Pennsylvania Coal Company. This protracted period of inactivity and distress engen- dered a hostile feeling on the part of the strikers towards such of their occupation as continued to work here and there, which culminated in the well remembered riots of April 6th and 7th, 1871. On the 6th a mob gathered at Tripp's slope, and tried to prevent the men working there from coming out of the mine at quitting time. The next day men were beaten, the work at mines stopped and much property was destroyed. A breaker was burned down, and a force of miners estimated at about 1,000 carried terror in all directions. Upon application from Mayor Monies, the governor sent Major General Osborne and a portion of his division, the Hazleton Bat- talion under Major Swank, the 15th regiment under Colonel O. K. Moore, together with the Thomas and Franklin Zouaves of Scranton. These forces were put on guard, and though all attempts at an adjustment of the differences between employers and employes by arbi- tration or otherwise failed for some time, there was no further violence. Work was generally resumed May 22nd, though some miners, notably those in the employ of the Lackawanna Iron and Coal Company, had re- sumed a few days earlier.

THE GREAT RIOTS OF 1877.

From the beginning of the troubles which culminated in the wide-spread strikes and riots of 1877, Scranton, the most important point in the coal region, was pro- foundly agitated. The strike in the city proper was begun July 24th by the employes of the Lackawanna Iron and Coal Company, though the employes at the Meadow Brook mines, numbering about 300, had struck the night before. It was first declared at noon in the old rolling-mill, and the men retired from the building, leav- ing the partly formed rails in the rolls and the fires in the furnaces still burning, and proceeded in a body to the company's steel mills, where work was suspended, the employes joining the strikers and marching with them to the shops and foundries, where work was also stop- ped; the entire force of workmen in all of these establish- ments, to the number of about 1,500, having struck, de- claring that they had been unable to live on the wages they had received up to the 15th of that month, at which date a reduction of ten per cent. more had been made. During the afternoon a meeting was held at which it was determined to demand the restoration of this last reduc- tion. The employes of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Company and the Delaware and Hud- son Canal Company struck that day. The locomotives were run into the yard, where their fires were drawn and they were left in good order. Passenger trains were taken to their destinations, but upon their arrival the fires were drawn and the engines placed on side tracks. There was no disposition shown by the firemen to injure any of the companies' property, which they declared they would protect. A coal train which left Scranton at five o'clock was returned and placed in the yard with

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419

THE SCRANTON MINERS' AND TRAINMEN'S STRIKE OF 1877.

nearly a score of others similarly loaded. A demand had previously been made on Superintendent Manville, of the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company, by the firemen in the employ of that corporation, but concessions had been refused by him that afternoon. No engineers, con- ductors or brakemen were concerned in the movement at that time, though the brakemen afterward joined it. It was anrounced by the railway authorities that no trains would run until the difficulty was settled. All shipments of coal ceased, and the mines in all parts of the Lacka- wanna valley were thus rendered idle. The excitement in the city was intense. Doubt, uncertainty and appre- hension were everywhere manifest. A proclamation was issued by Mayor McKune, urging the necessity of sober, careful thought and pointing out the criminal folly of any precipitate action.

The excitement increased, and on the 25th the crowds of idle and eagerly talking men about the streets were augmented by the arrival of thousands of miners who flocked in from all directions. The strikers said they would not obstruct the carrying of the mails, but declared they would suffer no passenger cars to pass over the roads. When the 10 o'clock train from Binghamton ar- rived it was boarded by a number of strikers, who un- coupled the express and passenger cars as it neared the depot, but permitted the mail to pass. The railway offi- cials refused to go through with the mail unless the pas- senger cars were permitted to pass, but the strikers pro- cured orders for the governor to Superintendent Hal- stead to allow the mails to pass as usual. . A statement was prepared by a committee of the strikers for publica- tion in the local papers, setting forth their grievances and the cause for their action. A petition was adopted asking the saloon keepers to close their places of busi- ness.

The miners of the Scranton district, representing not less than 40,000 men, demanded an increase of twenty- five per cent. on their wages during the day, causing aug- mented excitement in the city. W. R. Storrs, general coal superintendent of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Company, was waited on by a com- mittee of six who presented a series of resolutions, repre- senting that the men had been subjected to repeated re- ductions until their wages were far less than adequate to heir support and that of their families, and that they would not longer endure it, but were determined to con- tinue the strike until their demand should be complied with, even though the railway employes should return to their work. Mr. Storrs forwarded their petition to the general office of the company and promised the commit- tee a reply on the following Friday; and the strikers called a mass meeting in the woods, in the suburbs of the city, for the afternoon of the 26th. The Lackawanna Iron and Coal Company's employes, including the work- men in the iron and steel works, sent a committee during the day to wait on W. W. Scranton, the general superin- tendent, and demand an increase of wages to the amount of twenty-five per cent., which he was unable to grant. The strike was rendered general by a demand of the em-

ployes in the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western car shops of an increase of twenty-five per cent., and it now extended to every important branch of industry in the valley; and one of the most dangerous elements in the trouble was supplied by the action of the miners, who, not satisfied with quitting work, refused to allow the pumps of the mines to be operated. The men who at- tempted to keep them going to prevent the mines from flooding were driven away by the strikers and the engines were stopped, allowing the water to flow steadily into the mines, injuring some of them to an almost inestimable extent. The prevailing state of affairs at the time was thus summed up in a despatch from Scranton, July 29th:

" The entire Lackawanna region is idle. Week before last this region sent nearly 150,000 tons of coal to market. Last week it did not send a tithe of that quantity, and next week it will not send any. The miners of the Delaware and Undson Canal Company quit work yesterday morn- ing, and those of the Pennsylvania Coal Company are in enforced idle- ness on account of the destruction of a head-house and bridge on their gravity railroad. The head-house, which was situated in the woods east of this city, was burned down at three o'clock this morning, by a mob which surprised the watchman and tied him with ropes to a neighboring tree. They saturated the wood work of the head-house, and then set it off with a match. It made a fierce blaze, which was plainly visible here. Destruction of the head-house causes a complete stoppage from Hawley to Pittston. It was not the work of the company's employes, but of outside persons, who took that mode of forcing the strike upon them. The Pennsylvania Coal Company have recently been working on full time at their mines, and the best of feeling exists between themselves and their workmen. The latter are indignant at the dastardly act."

The mayor was very active in efforts to effect an ad- justment of the troubles, and succeeded at length in in- ducing the miners in the vicinity of Scranton to allow the pumps to be put to work by the civil engineers, bosses and clerks of the coal companies.

By dint of strong effort on the part of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Company and the city authorities the employes of that corporation gave up the struggle July 30th, and resumed work at their former wages. This action was brought about chiefly by the mayor, who sent for the executive committee of the striking railway employes and informed them that travel would have to be resumed over the road the next morn- ing, even if the presence of troops should be necessary to such a result. At a meeting held early in the afternoon the men decided, by a vote of 82 to 9, to return to their work, and a committee proceeded to inform Superintend- ent Halstead of their determination, the only terms asked being the promise of the superintendent that no one who had taken an active part in the strike should be prosecuted. This condition was not refused, and pas- senger and freight traffic was speedily re-established.

The miners declared their intention to hold out, and bitterly denounced the concession of the railway em- ployes, their turbulence augmenting day by day to such a pitch as to make troops necessary. Some of the miners resumed work stealthily. On the morning of August ist a mass meeting of about 5,000 strikers was held in the suburbs. The situation was discussed by partisan speak- ers with more fervor than deliberation. The policy of the railroad and coal companies was denounced in bitter terms, and the action of the workmen who had resumed their former positions in the shops and blast furnaces was scathingly reprobated. An incendiary letter from

420

HISTORY OF LACKAWANNA COUNTY.

some anonymous person was read, which stated that W. W. Scranton had declared he would have the men at work for thirty-five cents a day, stirring the multitude up to a pitch of almost ungovernable excitement. Curses and threats were heard almost on every hand, and the influence of addresses by a few of the more conservative of the leaders, which had been listened to with attention and respect, seemed to have been destroyed in a moment. A few reporters were present, and as soon as they were recognized their notes were seized by the strikers and they were driven from the ground. The men then sepa- rated in two squads, proceeded to the machine shops, foundries and furnaces of the Lackawanna Iron and Coal Company, and drove off a number of men and boys who were at work. They then went to the Delaware, Lacka- wanna and Western car shops. The workmen there were panic-sricken and fled in terror. Some of them were seriously injured, as was also a foreman named Little. Mayor McKune; appearing upon the scene, was hooted After vainly addressing the mob, he was driven from the ground. In a rush which followed, Mr. Lilly, a lumber boss in the employ of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western shops, was beaten. The mayor endeavored by all the means in his power to disperse the crowd, but was knocked down and severely injured.

Upon learning the extent of the riot the mayor had summoned a posse which had previously been organized in view of the dangers which threatened the city, under command of W. W. Scranton, which promptly assembled and marched about fifty strong to the scene of danger, encountering the mob at the intersection of Washington and Lackawanna avenues, near where they saw the mayor, bleeding from his recent wounds. As the posse approached him for instructions some of the more reck- less of the rioters attacked the armed men with a shower of stones and other misiles; and a moment later one of them shot T. W. Bortree, who was in the rear of the mayor's posse, in the knee with a pistol ball; and imme- diately the posse faced about and a number of them fired, killing or fatally wounding four of the rioters and injuring others more or less seriously. The crowd fled and sought safety in various directions at the first volley. It was followed by two others in quick succession, and by this time the mob was utterly routed and the streets were soon clear, except for the presence of the dead, dying and wounded and those whom humanity or curi- osity had called to the spot. Four had been killed or fatally wounded, and it is estimated that no less than a score of persons, including those killed, were injured. It was manifest that order could be preserved only by armed force. The streets were patrolled by armed citi- zens and an urgent appeal for military assistance was forwarded to the govenor at Pittsburgh. Threatened freight cars were guarded.

Before daylight on the morning of August 2nd men were pouring in by hundreds from the neighboring min- ing districts and concentrating near the depot. Here Governor Hartranft, with a large force of soldiers under command of General Huidekoper, arrived about the

same time, just in time to avert the impending difficulty. As the troops arrived, with two cannon on a platform car in advance of the locomotive and hundreds of bayonets protruding from the car windows, the rioters made an instant stampede. The troops were warmly welcomed by the citizens, and went into camp in various parts of the city and its suburbs. The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Company, under their protection, put its trains in motion, and a meeting of the citizens was held endorsing the warlike action taken by the mayor's posse and pledging a firm support to the city authorities in behalf of law and order. Despite the powerful pro- tection now afforded to those who desired to engage at their old pursuits, none of the miners returned to work and the mine pumps were still operated by the engineers, clerks and bosses, and it was menacingly said that grass would grow in the mines and water flow from the mouths of the shafts before work would be resumed at the old rate of wages. At one o'clock on the 3d a meeting of at least 5,000 miners and other workmen was held in the woods, at which a committee of six was appointed who souglit and obtained an interview with the governor in his car, which resulted in nothing more than a friendly advisory talk to the committee, as the representatives of the great body of strikers, by the governor, who, as representative of the State, could not act as arbitrator in such a matter.

The excitement caused by the miners' riot and their encounter with the mayor's posse continued for some time. In spite of the protection afforded by the soldiers the workmen returned to their labor in the various indus- trial establishments slowly, being afraid of the miners, whose attitude was defiant and determined. A meeting of delegates from every mine in the section was held at Scranton, to appoint a general executive committee and form plans to secure a perfect unity of action among the strikers, so that the men in all directions would simulta- neously resume work in all of the mines whenever the time for resumption should be declared. On the 7th a large store was opened by the miners' executive commit- tee to relieve the immediate necessities of such of their families as might suffer for food, and it was soon filled with provisions. By the friendly co-operation of busi- ness men in the city and elsewhere, and the farmers throughout the section, trains were placed at their dis- posal, and donations of potato patches and other crops were made, and many miners went to the country in gangs to do work and receive their pay in provisions. Information was received on the 7th of intended depre- dations by the strikers, and a double guard was placed on duty in all parts of the city. Meetings of miners were held at night in the woods round about, and rocket sig- nals were sent up occasionally from every hill.

In the meantime a despicable effort had been made by the friends of the rioters who had been killed to be re- venged on the members of the mayor's posse. A coroner's jury, composed of sympathizers with the miners, held an inquest on the bodies, and August 8th returned a verdict of wilful murder against the members

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& Menifuld

EDWARD MERRIFIELD.

This gentleman was born in the village of Wyoming, Luzerne county, July 30th, 1832. He was the eldest and is now the only child living of Judge William and Almira Merrifield. A biographical notice of his father appears on another page of this volume. Edward Merrifield. with the exception of the first year of his life, has been a resi- dent of Scranton. His education was received in the public schools at Hyde Park and in an attendance of about two years at Wyoming Seminary, Kingston, and between two and three years at Oxford Academy, Chenango county, N. Y., where he prepared for college. On account of impaired health the idea of a college course was aban- doned.

Upon his return from Oxford he engaged in company with his father at Hyde Park in mercantile business, in which he continued but one year. In the spring of 1852 he entered the law academy at Easton, Pa., Judge Mc- Cartney principal, where he remained one term. In 1853 he entered the law office of Harrison Wright, at Wilkes- Barre, where he remained two years. At the August term of court in 1855 he was admitted to the bar, and the same

year opened an office at Hyde Park, In 1861 he removed from Hyde Park and opened an office in Scranton. In 1867, for the purpose of recruiting his health, he pur- chased a farm on the Raritan river, Somerset county, N. J., which he carried on two years. Having fully recov- ered his health, he returned and again opened a law office in Scranton, where he has since practiced. In politics Mr. Merrifield has acted with the Democratic party.

For a number of years he was president of the Scran- ton Law and Library Association. He was very active in securing the formation of the county of Lackawanna, and to no one man was due more credit for the final success of that project. His pleasant home on Wyoming avenue was built in 1870. He married (November 25th, 1855) Jennie Eldridge, daughter of James M. and Elvira El- dridge, of Owego, N. Y. They have one daughter, Jes- sie. In his profession Mr. Merrifield is regarded espec- ially as a safe and thoroughly reliable counselor, and as a citizen enjoys in the largest measure the esteem and confidence of the entire community in which he has spent his life.

DR. JOHN WILSON GIBBS, JR.

Dr. John Wilson Gibbs, jr., one of the older physicians of Scranton, was born in Jefferson village, near Newark, N. J., October roth, 1823. In 1846 he married Euphe- mia, daughter of William Patton, a Philadelphia banker. He was a graduate of the Pennsylvania Medical College, Philadelphia. The scene of his early professional life was in Schuylkill county, where he made many warm friends. In 1856 he visited the south with his family, wintering at Vicksburg, Miss. In 1857 he returned north and settled in Hyde Park, Scranton, where he at once entered upon a lucrative and extensive practice in medi- cine and surgery. He was elected and served as coroner to the old county of Luzerne during the war of the Rebel- lion.

In the spring of 1870, during some relaxation from his arduous duties, he made the tour of Europe, returning to

his labors with a body invigorated and a mind refreshed. In 1879 he was elected a member of the medical staff of the Lackawanna Hospital, and re-elected in 1880. At its inception he was made treasurer of the Lackawanna County Medical Society, to which position he was re- elected at the last election. The doctor comes of a fam- ily singularly devoted to the science of medicine, his father, a clergyman of the Baptist denomination, having subsequently graduated in medicine. Three of his brothers were physicians, as is also one of his sons. The latter, Dr. L. H. Gibbs, is a resident of Scranton, and en- joys a large practice. Another son, W. St. Clair Gibbs, is now (1880) a student of medicine at Philadelphia Robert Patton Gibbs, a third son, prepared for college at Keystone Academy, at Factoryville, Pa., with the purpose of entering Columbia College.

421

THE ODD FELLOWS OF SCRANTON.

of the posse; and the alderman who had acted as coroner issued warrants for the arrest of six of the accused and placed them in the hands of three constables for imme- diate service. T. F. Hunt (who was not a member of the posse but against whom the charge had probably been urged by an enemy) was arrested at his residence that evening, with Mr. C. F. Chittenden, and they would have been taken to the sixth ward, the most lawless part of the city, had they not been rescued from the constables by soldiers, at the instance of General Huidekoper, and conveyed to military headquarters, where they were pro- tected during the night. The next day they were handed over to the sheriff and, with a majority of the leading members of the citizens' party, were taken by special train to Wilkes-Barre, where they gave bail. Upon trial they were acquitted. A number of the more prominent strikers were also arrested, but none were punished; all aggressive measures were abandoned on both sides, and in time the rancorous animosity which had been en- gendered died out. Had Messrs. Hunt and Chittenden fallen into the power of the friends of the dead rioters, who were numerous in the sixth ward, it is not unlikely that they would have been murdered.

SECRET AND SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS. INDEPENDENT ORDER OF ODD FELLOWS.

Capouse Lodge, No. 170 (Hyde Park) .- This is one of the oldest lodges in northeastern Pennsylvania. Its charter members were mostly from Cambrian Lodge, No. 58, of Carbondale, and it was instituted July 24th, 1846, in the old "Slocum honse." The following were in- stalled as the first officers: E. S. M. Hill, N. G .; William Hawket, V. G .; J. S. Sherrerd, secretary; John D. Mead, treasurer. In 1848 the lodge was located in Hyde Park, building a hall on the site of the Hyde Park Bank. From March 2nd, 1872, when the structure was burned, until the erection of the new building on the lot adjoining the former one, the lodge met in the halls of the Co-op- erative Association and Warnke & Hower. The new hall was dedicated in June, 1874, but had to be sold for debt. The lodge once had a membership of 376, but became reduced to about 100. September 30th, 1879, 120 members were enrolled, and the prospects are brighter than they have been for years. The officers in November, 1879, were as follows: William R. Williams, N. G .; John R. Morris, V. G .; W. Gaylord Thomas, sec- retary; Charles V. Smith, assistant secretary; William H. Decker, F. secretary, and John Harwin, treasurer.

Lackawanna Lodge, No. 291 (Scranton) .- In old Odd Fellow's Hall, Lackawanna Lodge, No. 291, I. O. of O. F. was instituted March 16th, 1848, with the following charter members: Henry McCarty, N. G .; John W. Moore, V. G .; Dr. B. H. Throop, Sec .; W. W. Manness, Asst. Sec .; J. C. Platt, Treas .; John Travis, Robert Henderson, Matthias Henderson, Thomas Reese and Alanson Bemer. Lackawanna Lodge has been the parent of two other lodges (the Residenze and the Robert Burns) besides providing charter members for several

others. Since the organization of the lodge $13,000 has been expended in benefits, and it is now in prosperous condition, promptly meeting all demands for aid from its members and rendering aid as occasion requires to sister lodges.

The Odd Fellows' Hall and Cemetery Association is an incorporated body composed entirely of the membership of Lackawanna Lodge. It was incorporated November 18th, 1873, and has property valued at $16,000, consist- ing of over three acres of the Forest Hill Cemetery and the lot on Wyoming avenue occupied by Messrs. A. O. Snow and J. D. Williams. December 6th, 1879, the fol- lowing board of directors for the ensuing year was chosen: John T. Howe, Horace Shirer, George B. Chase, Dr. H. N. Dunnell, F. B. Sturges, C. Sensaubaugh and Israel Ruth. The board immediately organized by electing Israel Ruth president and George B. Chase secretary and treasurer.

Scrantonia Encampment, No. 8t (Scranton) .- This en- campment was instituted March 16th, 1849, as Lacka- wanna Encampment, with the following charter mem- bers and first officers: J. Curtis Platt. C. P .; O. P. Clark, H. P .; W. W. Manness, S. W .; J. W. More, J. W .; B. H. Throop, S .; D. K Kressler, T .; J. Williams, Sent.

The officers in November, 1879, were: Horace Shirer, C. P .; Benjamin Jenkin, H. P .; Alfred E. Finch, S. W .; John Kraeger, J. W .; Israel Ruth, S .; D. K. Kressler, T. The encampment has been particularly fortunate in the choice of its officers, some of whom have been re-elected year after year. Thomas P. Harper was scribe in 185 1 and from 1854 until his death, June 7th, 1879. D. K. Kressler has been treasurer since June 9th, 1854.

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History of Luzerne, Lackawanna, and Wyoming counties, Pa.; with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of their prominent men and pioneers, Part 129

Author: Munsell, W.W., & Co., New York Publication date: 1880 Publisher: New York, W.W. Munsell & co. Number of Pages: 900

Author: Munsell, W.W., & Co., New York
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: New York, W.W. Munsell & co.
Number of Pages: 900